Bob Newhart Essentials

Before he became a sitcom icon, Bob Newhart was a Chicago accountant who stumbled into a comedy career after some of the improvised phone conversations he recorded with a friend found their way onto local radio. His trademark routine was built from that, with Newhart holding down one end of an imagined telephone call, relying on his dry delivery and sharp timing to send audiences into hysterics. His '61 debut recording, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, was a huge hit, earning him GRAMMY®s for Album of the Year (beating out both Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole) and Best New Artist.